'Stranger 2' aka 'Forest of Secrets 2' Episode 2 Promo: Is Choi Bit behind Won-cheol going down for bribery?
'Stranger 2' also known as 'Forest of Secrets 2' doesn't rest on its predecessor's laurels in terms of ratings or the quality of the show. Turns out, the show scored an average nationwide rating of 7.6 percent and a peak of 8.9 percent according to Nielsen Korea, which is the second-highest rating for any show on tvN's history. The record for the highest rating over the weekend slot is held by 2018 show 'Mr Sunshine'. The excitement over the show comes from the fact that the previous season was a thrilling ride from start to finish and also received international acclaim.
Judging by this, every episode holds great interest amid fans who discuss and speculate about what is to come in the upcoming episode. From the end of episode promo, it has become clear that the drowning of two college-going students from Seoul is not accidental but was caused by the ignorance of two individuals, just as Han Yeo-jin (Bae Doona) had thought, The fact that one of them belongs to an influential chaebol (conglomerate owners) family who has the power to assign a former judge as a lawyer only substantiates Yeo-jin and Hwang Si-mok's (Cho Seung Woo) doubts further.
Kang Won-cheol (Park Sung-geun) having signed off on the case as the Chief Prosecutor comes under media scrutiny as they suspect that there were bribes involved as the case gets closed in less than 24 hours since it arrived at the Seoul Prosecutor's Office. Choi Bit (Jeon Hye Jin), uses this as a weapon to attack the Prosecutors' Office as a whole to push her agenda, which is to gain independence over any investigation. She seemed very interested in creating an image that would help her and the police department in arguing for more power when it comes to investigating. However, will this really aid her or is she setting herself up for a bigger trap than the one that she set?
It doesn't seem like she really knows Si-mok or his single-minded focus when it comes to prosecuting cases. Yes, she has been working with Yeo-jin for two years now, however, she still seemed surprised when Yeo-jin stood up to her decision of using a false accusation for mileage in the larger scheme of things. So we will definitely see more of Choi being surprised when it comes to Si-mok and Yeo-jin's collaborative work.
Also, we will see if the show will portray Prosecutor Won-cheol on the dark side this season to portray how power changes people. If this is the case, is he being bribed by Hanjo? The corporate powerhouse that influenced majority of last season will be back this season too, however, it is now under the leadership of Lee Yeon-jae (Yoon Se-ah), wife of late Chief Prosecutor and daughter of the CEO who was brought down by Si-mok and Yeo-jin in Season 1.
'Stranger 2' premieres on August 15 and originally airs on tvN on Saturdays and Sundays at 9 pm KST in South Korea and can be streamed on Netflix.